Photo: Reuters
The Princeton and Harvard Law educated
Andrew Caspersen, 39, was arrested on Saturday for a scheme to defraud
investors out of $95million. He is pictured here with family, his wife
and brother Finn Caspersen Jr, leaving Federal Court on Monday
Andrew Caspersen, 39, charged with defrauding investors of $25million and trying to get $95million
Partner in PJT Partners allegedly scammed clients into fake investment
that he created and made up web domain and emails to support
Continue story after the cut ...
He put $25million in a personal account and lost it all on risky trades
He was arrested on Saturday at an airport
Princeton and Harvard Law educated executive out on $5million bail
Faces up to 40 years in prison
Caspersen allegedly succeeded in
getting $25million of investor money for a fake scheme, then he put the
money in his personal brokerage account
An Ivy League-educated former executive at a New York investment bank
was arrested Monday on charges he tried to defraud investors of more
than $95 million as he led what a prosecutor called a 'shameful charade'
to cover his tracks.
Prosecutors said Andrew Caspersen, 39, only got away with $25 million, which he then lost.
He was charged in Manhattan federal court with securities and wire fraud after his Saturday arrest and released on bail.
He's
accused of scamming clients of PJT Partners Inc. into investing
millions of dollars in sham private equity investments from July through
March.
After
an initial court appearance, he was released on $5 million bail,
ordered by the judge to have a psychological evaluation and left court
holding hands with his wife.
Dan Levy, a lawyer for Caspersen, declined comment outside court.
Caspersen has homes in New York City and suburban Bronxville, New York.
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Photo: TributesCaspersen's father Finn, pictured, a noted philanthropist, killed himself with a gunshot to the head in 2009
He
is the son of Finn M.W. Caspersen, who was a prominent philanthropist
and former chief executive of the financial services firm Beneficial
Corp.
The
elder Caspersen, once worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was found
dead in 2009 of a self-inflicted gunshot in a Rhode Island beach
community where he had a home.
The family also had homes in Jupiter Island, Florida, and the horse country of New Jersey.
That shocking suicide was the subject of a 2010 Vanity Fair article, which detailed his life of privilege and excess - even riding horses with the royals at Windsor castle.
PJT
Partners released a statement saying it was 'stunned and outraged' to
discover the fraud while Caspersen was a partner in its Park Hill Group.
He then lost the money through
aggressive options trading. He has been terminated from his job and PJT
Partners who released a statement saying they were 'stunned and
outraged'
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It said it referred the matter to federal prosecuters after learning fact suggesting improper behavior. 'To
advance his $95 million fraud scheme, Caspersen allegedly put on a
shameful charade — creating fake email addresses, setting up misleading
domain names, and inventing fictional financiers,' U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara said in a press statement.
'When confronted by a suspicious client who had invested $25 million, Caspersen had no good answers.'
His lawyer declined to comment outside of court on either the criminal or civil charges filed
The
sham investment for which money was solicitied was an entity called
Irving Place III SPV, which was intentionally similar to Irving Place
Capital Partners III SPV, which is an legitimate private-equity fund.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission also filed civil charges against
Caspersen, seeking a return of ill-gotten gains with interest and
monetary penalties.
It
said that after graduating from Princeton University in 1999 and
Harvard Law School in 2002, Caspersen was a principal at a private
equity firm in London before he became a managing principal in January
2013 at the New York firm.
Caspersen allegedly created fake email
addresses, set up misleading domain names, and invented fictional
financiers,' U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. 'When confronted by a
suspicious client who had invested $25 million, Caspersen had no good
answers'
'As
alleged, Caspersen engaged in a brazen fraud by raising money under
false pretenses and simply stealing the funds,' said Andrew M. Calamari,
director of the SEC's New York Regional Office.
'This action amply demonstrates that even sophisticated institutional investors are not immune to financial scams.'
Prosecutors
said Caspersen fraudulently solicited investors by promising
investments would be safe, all while he converted their money to his own
use without their authorization.
If convicted, Caspersen could face up to 40 years in prison. He was released on $5million bail
They
said he used a portion of nearly $25 million from a charitable
foundation to trade securities in his personal brokerage account, only
to lose most of the money through aggressive options trading.
He used the rest to cover losses from money he had already allegedly stolen.
The foundation has not gotten back any of the money, prosecutors added.
He and wife departed the hearing in a taxi cab. They have homes in Manhattan and suburban Bronxville
Before
his arrest, Caspersen tried to solicit an additional $20 million from
the same charitable foundation and a $50 million investment from another
multinational private equity firm headquartered in New York, the
government said.
He was arrested on March 26 at New York's Laguardia's airport.
If convicted of both charges, Caspersen could face up to 40 years in prison.
Caspersen
is the youngest of four sons, all of whom graduated Harvard Law. Their
father donated $30million to the school, also his alma mater, a few
years before his death.
He lost his college girlfriend in the World Trade Center on 9/11, and spoke movingly of her in
the New York Times Portraits of Grief in October 2001. His brother Sam
provided legal counsel to the 9/11 Commission. He has since married.
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